The No.1 website for musicians
MusicRadar Home | MusicRadar News | MusicRadar Reviews | MusicRadar Forum
What's Hot: Best guitar gear of the month: review round-up
Neville Marten, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 5:52 pm BST
Every month we ask a famous guitarist all those questions we know you really want the answers to.
This month: slide supremo Derek Trucks
Q: Do you have a type of pick that you can't live without?
A: No, I actually don't use a guitar pick - I only do finger picking.
Q: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be?
A: That would be easy. I don't use any guitar pedals, just my guitar straight into the amp.
Q: Do you play another instrument well enough to be in a band?
A: That depends on what band it is! I've seen a few bands that I could play all of the instruments, but for bands I'd actually want to be in I would need to stick to guitar.
Q: If a music chart was put in front of you, could you read it?
Yes.
Q: Do guitar cables really make a difference?
A: I think they do make a difference on some level. Of course the biggest difference is whether they actually work at all on a night-to-night basis. I use Planet Waves cables.
Q: Is there anyone's playing (past or present) that you're slightly jealous of?
A: I would love to be able to compose classical guitar pieces like Ralph Towner - and I wish I could sing like my wife (Derek is married to top blues singer and guitarist Susan Tedeschi)…
Q: Your house/studio is burning down: which guitar do you salvage?
A: My '61 SG would have to be the one. It's a classic vintage guitar and they're not making any more of those!
Q: What's your favourite amp and how do you set its controls for a gig?
A: Blackface Fender Super Reverb – volume 8, treble 8, mid and bass 4, reverb 3, bright switch on!
Q: What kind of action do you have on your guitars?
A: I tune my guitar to open E and the action is set as low as I can get it and still play slide, because I play both slide and non-slide on the same guitar. I'd say it's medium height.
Q: What strings do you use?
A: DR Pure Blues from .11 - .46
You need to be logged in to post a comment. Login or Register to post a comment.
Follow Guitar Techniques...
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
MySpace
RSS